In the United States, the census is officially a big deal (see How the Census Works to learn exactly how big a deal it is). Originally, the census was meant to be a way to count everyone so that the members of the House of Representatives could be allocated properly to the states. Every 10 years there would be a count, and states with more people got more members in the House. Over time, the government has gotten significantly more complicated, and today, the federal government allocates money to states for all sorts of programs. Something like $100 billion gets distributed every year, and quite a bit of it is distributed based on population. The census provides the only official head count.
Someone is very likely to notice if you do not fill out and return your form. After April 1 in a census year, all of the responses received by the U.S. Census Bureau will be compared to major lists of U.S. residences. If your response has not been received -- or if you didn't complete all the questions on your form -- someone from the census will contact you for that information. The census is a $6.5 billion dollar project. They can afford to be thorough!
If you refuse to give out the information or you deliberately give inaccurate information, you can be in legal trouble. According to United States Code, Title 13 (Census), Chapter 7 (Offenses and Penalties), SubChapter II, if you're over 18 and refuse to answer all or part of the Census, you can be fined up to $100. If you give false answers, you're subject to a fine of up to $500. If you offer suggestions or information with the "intent to cause inaccurate enumeration of population," you are subject to a fine of up to $1,000, up to a year in prison, or both. Here's the official verbiage:
221. Refusal or neglect to answer questions; false answers
Sec. 222. Giving suggestions or information with intent to cause inaccurate enumeration of population
Since 1790 - no citizen has ever actually been “fined” for refusal to answer any or all of the census questions
Interesting.
I was going to go the “Other” > “American” route on my race but I see that this would make me eligible for the largest fine.
I guess I’ll take “Screw you and you bullsnit census” for $100 Alex...
I guess if I want to avoid excess dollars going to entitled minorities, I better admit I am a “whitey” when I reply.
I dont mean this as a slant to anyone. I just resent the question as much as any other ethnic group might.
Gosh, I’m scared now! Maybe I should reconsider my answers? I don’t live under a spirit of fear of my government, Star Traveler, and I refuse to ever simply for refusing to answer superfluous questions that have no bearing on my representation.
In 2000 I answered only the number of people in the house and was honored with a personal visit from a census worker. Screaming at that long haired maggot to get off my porch is a memory that still makes me smile and I look forward to this year’s opportunity to provide an education to another dope smoking punk.
Thanks for posting this.
I can afford the $100. Screw them. Let them waste dollars sending out some fool to see me. I’ve paid taxes for over 45 years, time for ME to waste some of it, not just the politicans wasting it.
It’s odd, but this is the first census for which I have received a questionaire. I was never counted in the last 3.
Man, that sounds like the SS, Gestapo, Nazis etc
A person I know, a bachelor, is going to put himself down as #1 person, and his 11 cats as the other ones. They all have people names.
He says they are all Samoan.
I wonder how many people make a complete fiction of it.